NBC's Fall Schedule

NBC has become the first network to announce their fall lineup.

The ratings plagued Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip did not, alas, make the cut. Law and Order will be back for an 18^th season (still gunning for that 20-season Gunsmoke record drama series run, the show will be broadcast on Sunday nights after the end of the football season and NBC’s Sunday Night Football games) while Law and Order: Criminal Intent will shift over to the USA Network (with those episodes probably being used on NBC later to take the place of failed series.

The critically acclaimed (but ratings deficient) Friday Night Lights will get a second season…and a move to Friday nights.

Heroes will be “bulked up” with Heroes: Origins, a spin-off series that will introduce a new hero each episode and then allow viewers to vote for which one will be added to the main series during the next season. This will give us 30 episodes of Heroes goodness next season. There will also be 30 episodes of The Office (including 5 hour-long outings) as well as 25 episodes of My Name is Earl.

There is also going to be revival of 70’s cult classic The Bionic Woman. And Lipstick Jungle, the new hipster women in the city series from the writer of Sex and the City, will debut in January following the football season. The series stars Brooke Shields and Kim Raver (late of 24).

The schedule is as follows (new series in capital letters, ER excepted):

MONDAY
8-9 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9-10 p.m. Heroes
10-11 p.m. JOURNEYMAN

(Journeyman is the story of a time-traveling newspaper reporter.)

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. The Biggest Loser
9-10 p.m. CHUCK
10-11 p.m. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

(Chuck is a comedy/spy thriller about a computer geek who becomes a secret agent.)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. Deal or No Deal
9-10 p.m. BIONIC WOMAN
10-11 p.m. LIFE

(Life follows the adventures of a police detective returning to the force after spending years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.)

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. My Name Is Earl
8:30-9 p.m. 30 Rock
9-9:30 p.m. The Office
9:30-10 p.m. Scrubs
10-11 p.m. ER

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. 1 vs 100/THE SINGING BEE
9-10 p.m. Las Vegas
10-11 p.m. Friday Night Lights

(The Singing Bee is a karaoke reality show where contestants must sing the lyrics of popular songs perfectly even after the band stops playing; it will alternate 8-week runs with 1 vs. 100.)

SATURDAY
8-9 p.m. Dateline NBC
9-11 p.m. Drama Series Encores

SUNDAY (Fall 2007)
7-8 p.m. Football Night in America
8-11 p.m. NBC Sunday Night Football

SUNDAY (January 2008)
7-8 p.m. Dateline NBC
8-9 p.m. Law & Order
9-10 p.m. Medium
10-11 p.m. LIPSTICK JUNGLE